This invention relates to a device for transporting a piece of farm equipment, such as a drag harrow, which is pulled behind another piece of farm equipment, such as a disc harrow, having retractable wheels for transporting it.
In the preparation of soil for planting, a discing operation is frequently followed by breaking up clods, pulverizing the soil, and leveling the soil with a drag harrow. To avoid the necessity of carrying out two separate operations, the drag harrow may be pulled behind the disc harrow. This arrangement does an excellent job of preparing the soil. When the tandem implements must be moved from a field, however, difficulties arise. Disc harrows are generally provided with retractable wheels, powered by an hydraulic cylinder, which control the depth of the disc blades. Fully lowering the wheels raises the disc blades above the ground and permits the disc harrow to be transported. Traditionally, the drag harrow is disassembled and its individual sections are inverted and lifted onto the top of the disc harrow for transport. Alternatively, the drag harrow is left in the field and later transported separately. Neither approach is very satisfactory. The drag harrow sections are heavy and awkward to handle. For example, a 15 foot disc harrow may require a drag harrow having a central section about 5 feet wide and two outer sections each 6 feet wide, all connected to a 17 foot drawbar. Since each section is approximately square and weighs about 100 pounds, lifting the sections for transport is a difficult and time-consuming job.
Attempts have been made to design a drag harrow which may easily be transported with a disc harrow. Such devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,090,447 and 3,090,448 to Hotchkiss, Jr.. In these prior art systems, however, the drag harrow has been limited in length, width and type of construction, and the drag harrow of such systems has thus been less effective than the usual drag harrow. The combination of the two harrows is also less maneuverable than the usual tandem disc harrow and drag harrow. Just as important, the combination is difficult to transport because of the length, width and rigidity of the combined structure, particularly when gates have been built only large enough to accommodate the disc harrow.